cleung
Contributor
I was in Brockville this past weekend to dive with a newly certified friend and it was decided that we would try the Rothesay and Conestoga shore dives since she already did all her open water dives at Centeen during her course. Both dive sites were pretty easy to find along Highway 2 east of Brockville.
Rothesay
This was the closer one near Prescott off Merwin Lane and there were only two other divers there besides us that Sunday morning. Right beside the small parking area was an outhouse, change shelter and some picnic tables. Metal stairs led to the shore which was the entry point for this dive.
We saw the two white jugs out in the water. The first one was relatively close and marks where the line along the bottom is to the second jug which is out further. We chose to do a surface swim right to the second jug instead of the bottom route in order to conserve air since that second jug is a bit of a distance from shore. It was suggested that we swim a bit to the right of this jug since there might be a mild current flowing eastward. It turned out at least today, the current was not much of an issue as it was pretty easy to hit the second jug.
At this second jug, a short descent line was attached to the bottom which was only about ten feet. There we could see the line that went back to the first jug as well as another line that went to the Rothesay wreck itself. The visibility here was pretty bad (I'm not good with estimating visibility but it was bad enough that we definitely needed the lines).
We followed the line to the wreck and circumvented it counter clockwise. The wreck itself is in pretty bad shape as my newly certified friend just called her first wreck a pile of lumber. We did see a few pretty big bass fish much to our delight.
We chose to follow the line back to the descent line where the second jug was and then continued with the bottom line to the first jug. From there the depth was only about five feet and not far from the entry point at shore.
Water temperature was 23 degrees Celcius. My friend used a 7 mm wetsuit while I had a drysuit. Both of us did not use hoods and we were warm enough. It was a successful first wreck dive and first post certification one for my friend. Bottom time was 43 minutes. The other pair of divers came up shortly after us and claimed that the poor visibility at this time of year was pretty standard.
Conestoga
Our next dive site was the Conestoga near Cardinal a bit further east also along Highway 2 off Shanley St where there is a local Legion. Past the Legion to the west of it is the road which turns into a dirt one along a narrow peninsula. All the way to the end is the dive site area for this wreck. You can see part of the Conestoga above the surface of the water here. There were several vehicles of divers near the end of the road where there was also an outhouse and change shelter. Although not marked well, we were told by the divers already there that the best entry point was almost next to the change shelter.
Apparently, there is a line in the bottom that went out to the wreck that is suppose to be quite close to shore. We could see that a big difference here at this site compared to the Rothesay was that the current at the surface was much stronger. When we got into the water, it was about the same visibility and water temperature but again, the current was much stronger.
I was not able to see the line to the wreck and me and my buddy actually lost each other. I somehow ended up on the lake side of the wreck where the current was really strong and only experienced divers were recommended to try this side. I spotted two other divers and through hand signals, I confirmed that I was on the lake side rather than the shore side.
I wanted to get back to see if I could find my friend so I went over the side of the wreck into its hull area where the current was not as strong for awhile. Then I hopped over to the shore side where I soon spotted the line that ran along the entire wreck (on the shore side). There was still current on this side but not nearly as bad as that on the lake side. I pulled myself along this line until I came to the intersection where the line to shore was. I soon got back to the original entry point at shore but there was no sign of my friend whom I was quite worried about since she's a new diver.
She was soon spotted along the road quite a distance down. Apparently when we lost each other, she got carried by the current downstream but fortunately on the shore side of the wreck. She did know which direction the shore was since she did surface a few times and made it to shore further down the road a bit past where the wreck stuck out of the water.
Before we actually started this dive, one of the other divers on land said that the Conestoga was an easier dive than the Rothesay. My opinion is that the reverse is true. The big problem was that the visibility was bad enough that we missed the line out to the wreck and with strong currents, it made this dive maybe a bit too much for new divers without having a diver who knows the dive site to follow.
Most divers follow the line out to the wreck and drift dive to the stern and then do the reverse route by pulling themselves along the line at the bottom.
This was the first time I have been on both of these wrecks so I really did not know the routes myself. It would have been much better to follow somebody who knew where everything, especially the lines, were.
My own bottom time was only 17 minutes, with maximum depth of 30 feet since I cut my dive short after losing my buddy. Lessons learned at least.
Rothesay
This was the closer one near Prescott off Merwin Lane and there were only two other divers there besides us that Sunday morning. Right beside the small parking area was an outhouse, change shelter and some picnic tables. Metal stairs led to the shore which was the entry point for this dive.
We saw the two white jugs out in the water. The first one was relatively close and marks where the line along the bottom is to the second jug which is out further. We chose to do a surface swim right to the second jug instead of the bottom route in order to conserve air since that second jug is a bit of a distance from shore. It was suggested that we swim a bit to the right of this jug since there might be a mild current flowing eastward. It turned out at least today, the current was not much of an issue as it was pretty easy to hit the second jug.
At this second jug, a short descent line was attached to the bottom which was only about ten feet. There we could see the line that went back to the first jug as well as another line that went to the Rothesay wreck itself. The visibility here was pretty bad (I'm not good with estimating visibility but it was bad enough that we definitely needed the lines).
We followed the line to the wreck and circumvented it counter clockwise. The wreck itself is in pretty bad shape as my newly certified friend just called her first wreck a pile of lumber. We did see a few pretty big bass fish much to our delight.
We chose to follow the line back to the descent line where the second jug was and then continued with the bottom line to the first jug. From there the depth was only about five feet and not far from the entry point at shore.
Water temperature was 23 degrees Celcius. My friend used a 7 mm wetsuit while I had a drysuit. Both of us did not use hoods and we were warm enough. It was a successful first wreck dive and first post certification one for my friend. Bottom time was 43 minutes. The other pair of divers came up shortly after us and claimed that the poor visibility at this time of year was pretty standard.
Conestoga
Our next dive site was the Conestoga near Cardinal a bit further east also along Highway 2 off Shanley St where there is a local Legion. Past the Legion to the west of it is the road which turns into a dirt one along a narrow peninsula. All the way to the end is the dive site area for this wreck. You can see part of the Conestoga above the surface of the water here. There were several vehicles of divers near the end of the road where there was also an outhouse and change shelter. Although not marked well, we were told by the divers already there that the best entry point was almost next to the change shelter.
Apparently, there is a line in the bottom that went out to the wreck that is suppose to be quite close to shore. We could see that a big difference here at this site compared to the Rothesay was that the current at the surface was much stronger. When we got into the water, it was about the same visibility and water temperature but again, the current was much stronger.
I was not able to see the line to the wreck and me and my buddy actually lost each other. I somehow ended up on the lake side of the wreck where the current was really strong and only experienced divers were recommended to try this side. I spotted two other divers and through hand signals, I confirmed that I was on the lake side rather than the shore side.
I wanted to get back to see if I could find my friend so I went over the side of the wreck into its hull area where the current was not as strong for awhile. Then I hopped over to the shore side where I soon spotted the line that ran along the entire wreck (on the shore side). There was still current on this side but not nearly as bad as that on the lake side. I pulled myself along this line until I came to the intersection where the line to shore was. I soon got back to the original entry point at shore but there was no sign of my friend whom I was quite worried about since she's a new diver.
She was soon spotted along the road quite a distance down. Apparently when we lost each other, she got carried by the current downstream but fortunately on the shore side of the wreck. She did know which direction the shore was since she did surface a few times and made it to shore further down the road a bit past where the wreck stuck out of the water.
Before we actually started this dive, one of the other divers on land said that the Conestoga was an easier dive than the Rothesay. My opinion is that the reverse is true. The big problem was that the visibility was bad enough that we missed the line out to the wreck and with strong currents, it made this dive maybe a bit too much for new divers without having a diver who knows the dive site to follow.
Most divers follow the line out to the wreck and drift dive to the stern and then do the reverse route by pulling themselves along the line at the bottom.
This was the first time I have been on both of these wrecks so I really did not know the routes myself. It would have been much better to follow somebody who knew where everything, especially the lines, were.
My own bottom time was only 17 minutes, with maximum depth of 30 feet since I cut my dive short after losing my buddy. Lessons learned at least.
